by C S » Sun Feb 13, 2011 2:15 am
Some time later, the inn keeper started to descend the stairs, the fire in her new guest's room lit. The thought occurred to her that the burgundy chair had been turned away from the fireplace and that the stranger was sitting in it when she first saw him that morning. When did he move it, and how did she not hear anything downstairs? He couldn’t have lifted it...
"Desrium?" Syria called out as she looked around the lobby. The towel she gave him was on her desk but the armored traveler was nowhere to be seen. She looked the other way, perhaps he was in the kitchen? Before she could even look to the large table a few yards away from her, she saw the door to the library, opened wider than she'd left it. She stepped towards it and looked into the room. There she saw Desrium bracing against a shelf, a large book bound in black leather in hand. "Zuppoland?" She asked. Desrium looked up from the pages, his eyes strangely bright. Maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her; after all she had been up most of the night sorting things. He nodded simply and looked back to the book, finding the print fascinating. When he first looked at the book, each individual symbol triggered spurts of insight, then came the meanings of the strings of letters- words- and the meanings of entire sentences thereafter. The strange thing was, despite the sudden grasp of the written language, this knowledge didn’t just come to him. He was learning something new by his own will and action; the feeling of which was completely new to him. He was mystified by what was on the pages. "I lit the fireplace" Syria said to him after the short pause. "You may go up and warm yourself. Thank you for going out there for me. You did me- and Perioul- a big favor"
Desrium looked up again and replied "You found a stranger in the hours of the moon and decided to give him a place to spend the night. It was only natural for me to return the kindness. If you don’t mind...I'd like to take the book with me"
“…Of course” Syria said, slightly surprised. She didn’t expect Desrium to say much. “Thank you” He replied, balancing back on his feet before walking past her and up the stairs. Before he got to the next floor, Syria asked “Did you have any trouble with the wild life?” Desrium stopped on the stairs in mid step. He turned his head slightly and simply said “No” before continuing on his way.
